Decision ‘08

WaPo: Pelosi Plan Makes Perfect Sense…

…if the goal is winning votes in the United States:

THE RESTRICTIONS on Iraq war funding drawn up by the House Democratic leadership are exquisitely tailored to bring together the party’s leftist and centrist wings. For the Out of Iraq Caucus, which demands that Congress force a withdrawal of all U.S. troops by the end of this year, there is language that appears to deliver that mandate, albeit indirectly. For those who prefer a more moderate course, there is another withdrawal deadline, in August 2008. Either way, almost all American troops would be out of Iraq by the time the next election campaign begins in earnest. And there are plenty of enticements on the side: more money for wounded veterans, for children’s health, for post-Hurricane Katrina reconstruction.

The only constituency House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ignored in her plan for amending President Bush’s supplemental war funding bill are the people of the country that U.S. troops are fighting to stabilize. The Democratic proposal doesn’t attempt to answer the question of why August 2008 is the right moment for the Iraqi government to lose all support from U.S. combat units. It doesn’t hint at what might happen if American forces were to leave at the end of this year — a development that would be triggered by the Iraqi government’s weakness. It doesn’t explain how continued U.S. interests in Iraq, which holds the world’s second-largest oil reserves and a substantial cadre of al-Qaeda militants, would be protected after 2008; in fact, it may prohibit U.S. forces from returning once they leave.

In short, the Democratic proposal to be taken up this week is an attempt to impose detailed management on a war without regard for the war itself. Will Iraq collapse into unrestrained civil conflict with “massive civilian casualties,” as the U.S. intelligence community predicts in the event of a rapid withdrawal? Will al-Qaeda establish a powerful new base for launching attacks on the United States and its allies? Will there be a regional war that sucks in Iraqi neighbors such as Saudi Arabia or Turkey? The House legislation is indifferent: Whether or not any of those events happened, U.S. forces would be gone.

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One Response to “WaPo: Pelosi Plan Makes Perfect Sense…”

1 too many steves Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 6:44 am
I wonder about the political risk of passing this legislation which causes the US troops to be removed (in time for the 2008 election campaign) followed by Iraq descending into civil chaos with “massive civilian casualties” etc.; does that scenario help the Democrats’ electoral chances?

If this were to come to pass wouldn’t the war in Iraq be (and be judged) a failure? Would the Democrats be held responsible for participating if not precipitating the failure? Isn’t that their political concern about simply de-funding the war? Certainly not among the anti-war base but what about the other two-thirds of the electorate? Some here argue that the war is already lost, but that is an esoteric argument that could be missed or not accepted by many voters.